Spotify amplifies Moroccan rap, hip hop music amid growing world popularity

Spotify said it's “committed to amplifying” Moroccan rap and hip-hop with the revamp of a successful playlist featuring musical talent in the North African country. 

The 'ABATERA' playlist - whose name translates to 'emperors' - includes around 300 Moroccan artists, such as rappers ElGrandeToto and Tagne, and features mainly Arabic-language tracks. 

The revamp in the playlist, which used to be called 'Rap Maroc', follows a 523 percent increase in listeners from April 2020 to September 2021 on Spotify, meaning that Moroccan hip hop is fast becoming one of the streaming platform's most consumed genres.

“ABATERA reflects the diversity of the Moroccan rap scene,” Spotify said. 

“Check out the stats, then stream these masters of hip-hop.” 

Our RapMaroc playlist is now ABATERA—"emperors" in Arabic. The revamped playlist reflects the diversity of the Moroccan rap scene, with over 300 artists, including @elgrandetoto and @stormylevrai. Check out the stats, then stream these masters of hip-hop. https://t.co/9lVDPlMKFv pic.twitter.com/GLa14oVOhP

— Spotify News (@SpotifyNews) September 20, 2021

The growing audience of Moroccan rap and hip-hop flocking to Spotify includes loyal fans as well as new listeners in the US and France. 

Fans have tuned in to 'ABATERA' tracks for over 829,000 hours since last April, the equivalent of 35,000 days of streaming. 

As part of the revamp, Spotify is also launching a new visual marketing campaign, featuring the iconic Casa tramway in Casablanca. 

It is hoped that this promotion will break down linguistic and cultural barriers to ensure international recognition for Moroccan talent, said newspaper Morocco World News.